


how you want things to be

by bvssbot



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, M/M, bartender woojin for the cc anon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-22
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2019-03-22 14:10:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13765803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bvssbot/pseuds/bvssbot
Summary: he ignored how daniel's shirt barely hid anything, yet wondered what the material would've felt like under his hands if he did dare to touch daniel. he couldn't have because he was still on duty, even if he had the guts to.





	how you want things to be

**Author's Note:**

> writing is hard and it's twice as hard when you're a lazy piece of shit waddup  
> this is for the cc anon who asked for bartender woojin. sorry this is so short but i couldn't really think of an actual plot dfshgerhe  
> sort of had quindecim in my mind when writing this lmao. aand it's prolly apparent i don't really know how bars work. i usually drink at restaurants or at home....
> 
> also i tried writing in past tense? i don't know what reads better, past tense or present, so tell me if you have any opinions on that
> 
> title from flyers by bradio, and the song of course, as always, has nothing to do with the fic

"so what's it going to be today?" woojin asked, carefully avoiding the eyes trained on him. the polite smile on his face turned a little bit brighter when he dared to glance up and saw the way daniel leaned onto the bar with his elbows, as if woojin wouldn't hear him otherwise.

they haven't seen each other for over a month since daniel's last visit (he claimed he had to go back to his hometown for a couple of weeks — he never told woojin why), and woojin would lie to himself if he said he hadn't terribly missed daniel's subtle yet at the same time awfully conspicuous presence. the fact that everything seemed to have fixed itself the second woojin saw daniel find his way to the bar just confirmed how affected woojin was by daniel, how much of a constant in woojin's live daniel had become despite his visits being irregular at best.

"uh…" daniel paused, like he wasn't expecting the question, bit on his bottom lip and took a brief moment to think. "just a beer would be fine."

woojin nodded, getting a clean pint glass off the holder above their heads. there was no rush. "light or dark?"

daniel laughed, short and abrupt yet genuine. when woojin looked at him, _really_ looked at him for the first time since daniel walked in and seated himself in the corner of the bar, a funny feeling made itself present somewhere on the bottom of his stomach, a feeling that had everything to do with the way daniel's eyes crinkled in the purple-blue lights of the bar as he looked at woojin as if nothing else had any importance to him.

"do you even need to ask?" a wry smile stretched on daniel's lips and woojin nodded again, automatically, as he filled the glass with the best beer they had, the one that wasn't expensive for the brand but not the cheap one either.

silence filled the space between them and the chatter of other patrons settled in. it was quiet and calm tonight at the bar, it only being a wednesday night, so woojin took his time serving daniel, waiting for him to start talking like he usually did. before daniel could say anything, however, another customer demanded woojin's attention and woojin quietly apologized (for no reason) to daniel before drifting to the other side of the modest countertop, ready to serve.

it took him a few minutes to get back to daniel, and by the time he did, half of daniel's pint was empty.

"chill night, huh?" he asked when woojin stepped closer, pretending to tidy up even though the bar was already as tidy as it could be.

"well, it's wednesday," woojin shrugged nonchalantly.

the bar woojin worked at wasn't awfully popular in the first place, even though they had their fair share of customers, so it was only natural that during the week the crowd was sparse. woojin liked it that way, even though he never really minded crowds. it made it easier for him to spend time being chatted away by daniel.

"oh," daniel giggled, a bit embarrassed, "right. i forgot. i'm sort of lost in time these days."

he didn't elaborate, obviously waiting for woojin to ask questions with the way he tilted his head.

"yeah? why, too busy?"

"no, not really…"

"...or is your hometown somewhere in america and you're struggling with jet lag?"

woojin smiled when daniel chuckled, shaking his head no and shifting on his seat to make himself comfortable.

"how did you even come up with that? no. it's busan, actually. i've just been... out of it, i suppose," his smile faltered a bit as he stared off at the marble counter for a few seconds. woojin's eyes widened as he noted to mention some time that they come from the same town, at the same time a distant feeling worry settled itself in his mind. "it's nothing, though. how have you been? how's university?"

woojin groaned, unprofessional and childish in how he slumped his shoulders forward and rolled his eyes. daniel chuckled, throaty and rich, before taking a gulp of his beer.

"i think i should quit, hyung. it's just too much. i never signed up to write THAT many stupid essays, but it seems like all my lecturers want is for me to spam their e-mails with pages of text they will most likely just skim over and not even grade properly," woojin complained, slipping back into the usual familiarity between the two of them — nothing had really changed during these four and a half week woojin hadn't talked to daniel, and woojin couldn't be more happy to not feel awkward as he leaned just a bit onto the countertop, scratching the surface of one of the syrup bottles with his nail.

he still avoided daniel's eyes as much as he could as he continued talking, knowing like no one else just how hard it was to keep one's composure under daniel's gaze.

 

daniel finished his beer as woojin talked, placing it back on the countertop and nodding when woojin wordlessly asked if he needed a refill.

"should've chosen another major. did you not expect to write a lot when you went for literature?" daniel teased as woojin approached the beer taps.

"do you not have a heart?" woojin almost whined, voice growing quieter as one of the waiters slipped past him into the backroom behind the bar.

woojin was, in fact, allowed to talk to the customers, so he didn't really have a reason to pretend he hadn't been blabbering away, but how he was with daniel was something woojin wanted to keep to himself. he didn't like being teased by anyone at work either, seeing how he hadn't managed to get close to any of them except for the manager who treated him as if woojin was his own son.

daniel waited for woojin to come back to stand in front of him.

"come and check," he dared, puffing out his chest and beckoning woojin to press his palm against it. woojin didn't, blushed instead and placed the beer down before looking to the side, pretending to check whether there were other people to serve. it was always so _hard_ to hide his embarrassment from daniel.

"shut up," he muttered, eyes catching a glimpse of a small pendant peeking out of daniel's shirt as his gaze shifted to the other side of the bar.

he ignored how daniel's shirt barely hid anything, yet wondered what the material would've felt like under his hands if he did dare to touch daniel. he couldn't have because he was still on duty, even if he had the guts to.

"you don't want me to shut up," daniel retorted, taking a gulp of his beer and making a cute satisfied noise, approving woojin's choice.

woojin shook his head, ready to bite back but distracted at the last second by a waitress approaching him and filling him in on the new orders. woojin offered daniel an apologetic smile as he was forced to leave his side at the end of the bar and get busy, but daniel just waved him off and focused on his beer.

 

"a margarita?" woojin echoed dubiously, raising a brow at the grinning daniel. "you sure you don't want more beer?"

"nope!" daniel shook his head, propping his chin on his palm as he looked at woojin with glossy, sparkly eyes. his cheeks were tinted with red and his posture was relaxed, making woojin fear whether he was capable of standing straight at this point. "a margarita."

"okay," woojin agreed, a bit amused and a whole lot charmed. "strawberry or watermelon?"

it was sort of his job to deal with intoxicated people and he have had seen all kinds of drunk behaviors, yet no one was quite as cute as drunk daniel. or, maybe woojin was simply biased.

daniel scrunched his nose at the mention of watermelon. "strawberry duh it's the best flavor who do you think i am."

"a total fool," woojin grinned, a little bit more relaxed himself.

drunk daniel admittedly stressed woojin out a morsel less than sober daniel, mostly because woojin once managed to convince himself that daniel didn't remember things woojin told him in his buzzed state. in his defense, woojin had every right to believe so, since daniel never really mentioned anything — even if he kept his drunk memories to himself, things probably got lost in the chaos of his daily life and were forgotten before daniel visited the bar again two-three weeks later.

"you're the fool," daniel whined, and woojin couldn't help but snicker as he fetched a margarita glass and started preparing the drink.

he could feel daniel's unwavering gaze on him through the whole process, eyes glossy but contemplating, as if he wanted to say or ask something but couldn't quite manage to gather courage to do so. woojin, having lost his shame for a moment, made sure to look as cool as possible as he made daniel his drink, showing off with flashy movements he'd learned ages ago when he was just starting his job as a bartender. there was a couple of girls his age seated on the other side of the bar he noticed watch him as well, but it wasn't _their_ appreciative and impressed looks that made woojin almost preen with pride.

all three of his spectators clapped shortly when woojin finished, and woojin sent a smile the girls' way before shifting his full attention on daniel.

"you're so cool," daniel mumbled dazedly as woojin placed his drink in front of him. he grabbed the stem and his impatient fingers grazed woojin's before woojin let go. it painted woojin's face in a shade of red. somehow, despite that, he didn't mind the way daniel's eyes lingered on him for a few seconds more before he finally tried his drink and let out a delighted hum. "this IS _SO_ GOOD!"

woojin laughed and shushed daniel, touching his own nose in a rather futile try to hide his embarrassment before rushing to clean after himself. when he got back to daniel, the glass was already empty.

"another one?" daniel blinked, holding up the glass with both of his hands and furthering woojin's embarrassment.

"you've drunk a lot tonight," woojin pointed out but did take the glass from daniel, who immediately plastered himself over the bar.

"i want moooooreeeee," he whined, cheek mushed against the marble counter, and woojin's heart swelled with affection at the ridiculous sight. not that daniel was mature or anything despite him being in his late twenties and older than woojin, but it always surprised woojin just how cute daniel acted sometimes.

he looked away before he could say anything awkward and went to prepare another drink.

"one more and that's it, alright?" he asked daniel, getting fervent nodding in return, and only then started filling the glass.

 

when daniel finally paid his bill and moved to stand up, woojin was dealing with mixed feelings. seeing daniel for the first time after their longest to date break leaved him craving to ask daniel for his phone number so he didn't have to think every wednesday and friday when he went to work whether he'd see daniel that evening. a nasty thought, an uncertainty if all daniel wanted from woojin was to flirt for a few hours and then not see each other until daniel decided he could pay woojin's bar a visit again was what made woojin hesitate, a cleaning rag clenched in his fingers as daniel was putting his wallet and phone back inside his jeans.

it was only when daniel looked up to say bye that woojin decided to take his chance.

"would you mind giving me your phone number?"

he cringed at the awkwardness of his wording, shifting from feet to feet. the way daniel smiled at him, all warm and wide, made woojin hold his breath.

"sure of course i don't mind. gimme your phone?" daniel asked, walking closer until the edge of the countertop dug into his sternum.

"um," woojin hesitated, eyes darting around the bar. no one was really paying attention to them. "a second."

he quickly disappeared into the backroom, jogging to his locker and getting out his phone, hands so sweaty he almost dropped it in the process. he wiped his palms on his slacks thoroughly, excited and a little bit anxious at the same time.

daniel was where woojin left him, rubbing at his eye with a knuckle of his index finger as he waited.

"here," woojin handed him the phone.

"yay!"

woojin giggled, eyes trained on daniel's face as he was typing in his number and saving it into woojin's contacts. daniel looked sleepy and tired, eyes droopier than usual and eyelids visibly heavy, but his smile didn't waver even one bit. it made woojin wonder how much daniel must've liked him, to continuously keep coming to woojin's bar, always without company, always to chat with woojin and the drinks he ordered just an excuse to stay for longer.

"all done," daniel nodded to himself, meeting woojin's eyes and handing him his phone back. their fingers touched for a second and woojin bit on the inside of his cheek.

woojin glanced at his phone, smiling so wide his cheeks hurt as he saw the name daniel saved himself under.

he looked up to meet daniel's eyes again. "want me to order you a cab?"

"nah it's fiiiine don't worry. i'll walk i like walking."

"alright."

"call me okay?" daniel asked, tilting his head. "woojinnie."

the way daniel said his name, careful, and affectionate, and _soft_ , so soft it almost felt as if they were something more than just acquaintances, a bartender and his customer, two people that have been constantly flirting for months yet never met for more than just a couple of hours at the bar. it brought back the funny feeling inside woojin's stomach, floaty and fluttery, akin to the one you get right before a long drop on a rollercoaster.

woojin nodded. "of course," he said, and just like that they bid one another goodbye.

 

the next time they saw each other wasn't under the intimate lights of the bar woojin worked at, and there was no countertop separating them.

**Author's Note:**

> catch me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/nxxcity) and send something to my [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/buttholer)


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